Love this Justin. I've often felt like designers have been under utilised within organisations. However there is a sense that perhaps it's partly our fault? The way we've positioned and sold ourselves? Maybe we haven't been very good at articulating it up until now, or even had to?
There are a number of reasons why designers get underutilized within organizations in my experience, both systemic and self-inflicted.
The rise of "agile transformation" in the 2010s took the narrative of design's role and potential in software development away from designers. Then "design thinking" became all the rage as a result, which boldly claimed that "everyone's a designer" which, ironically, de-valued the role of designers while evangelizing the criticality of design.
I've seen a lot of designers, and especially design leaders, who've lived through these shifts show up antagonistic and overly defensive in the day-to-day work. I was one of these designers myself.
And to be fair, the underlying structures of how modern software development came to be didn't exactly set Design up for unbridled success, but we get nowhere by being unrepentant jerks to those we work with every day. In fact, through design we can make everyone's job easier... And that's when amazing things emerge.
Do you think we are now seeing another "everyone's a designer" phase, but this time it's visually rather than in thought alone? And designers are now becoming more defensive with the idea of 'craft'?
As for being jerks, I find this is just an outward deflection of not being able to articulate and reason with others. Which I find odd as a good empathy cup should allow one to do this.
AI has definitely led us back into "everyone's a designer," both in thought and visual craft! I've also noticed that craft has become more of a topic these days as a response, which is usually focussed on aesthetics and the "pixel work."
My opinion is that AI is only going to get better and aesthetics more commoditized, so leaning into craft is not the best long-term career move. Applying design methods to more complex, often invisible challenges is likely the better play, which is why I spend a lot of time thinking and writing about what that could mean.
Love this Justin. I've often felt like designers have been under utilised within organisations. However there is a sense that perhaps it's partly our fault? The way we've positioned and sold ourselves? Maybe we haven't been very good at articulating it up until now, or even had to?
There are a number of reasons why designers get underutilized within organizations in my experience, both systemic and self-inflicted.
The rise of "agile transformation" in the 2010s took the narrative of design's role and potential in software development away from designers. Then "design thinking" became all the rage as a result, which boldly claimed that "everyone's a designer" which, ironically, de-valued the role of designers while evangelizing the criticality of design.
I've seen a lot of designers, and especially design leaders, who've lived through these shifts show up antagonistic and overly defensive in the day-to-day work. I was one of these designers myself.
And to be fair, the underlying structures of how modern software development came to be didn't exactly set Design up for unbridled success, but we get nowhere by being unrepentant jerks to those we work with every day. In fact, through design we can make everyone's job easier... And that's when amazing things emerge.
Thanks for the explanation.
Do you think we are now seeing another "everyone's a designer" phase, but this time it's visually rather than in thought alone? And designers are now becoming more defensive with the idea of 'craft'?
As for being jerks, I find this is just an outward deflection of not being able to articulate and reason with others. Which I find odd as a good empathy cup should allow one to do this.
AI has definitely led us back into "everyone's a designer," both in thought and visual craft! I've also noticed that craft has become more of a topic these days as a response, which is usually focussed on aesthetics and the "pixel work."
My opinion is that AI is only going to get better and aesthetics more commoditized, so leaning into craft is not the best long-term career move. Applying design methods to more complex, often invisible challenges is likely the better play, which is why I spend a lot of time thinking and writing about what that could mean.